Rajya Sabha polls: BJP names Shivesh Kumar, a first from Ravidas community

BJP's Shivesh Kumar celebrated his Rajya Sabha nomination, highlighting that he is the first from Bihar's Ravidas community to be selected. The party released its first list of nine candidates across six states for the upcoming biennial polls.

After being nominated as a Rajya Sabha candidate from Bihar for the upcoming biennial elections, BJP leader Shivesh Kumar thanked the party's top leadership and highlighted the historic significance of his selection, saying that for the first time since independence, a member of the Ravidas community will represent Bihar in the Rajya Sabha. Reacting to his nomination, Kumar told ANI, "I thank the top leadership of the party. For the first time after independence in the history of Bihar, a person from the Ravidas community is going to the Rajya Sabha."

Party Leaders Welcome Nominations

On BJP National President Nitin Nabin's nomination from Bihar, party leader Ajay Alok said, "We couldn't have received more auspicious news on the occasion of Holi. Many congratulations to our National President."

Meanwhile, Sujeet Kumar, nominated from Odisha, expressed gratitude to the party leadership, saying, "I am extremely grateful and thankful to my leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah Ji, National President Nitin Nabin, to the entire leadership of BJP, both in the centre and also in Odisha, for this confidence and faith in me."

BJP Announces Nine Candidates

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday released its first list of candidates for the Rajya Sabha biennial elections, clearing nine names across six states. The announcement was made by the party's Central Election Committee from its New Delhi headquarters.

From Bihar, the party has nominated National President Nitin Nabin and Shivesh Kumar. In Assam, the nominees are Terash Gowalla and Jogen Mohan. Laxmi Verma has been fielded from Chhattisgarh, while Sanjay Bhatia is the candidate from Haryana. Odisha will see Manmohan Samal and Sujeet Kumar contesting on the BJP ticket, and Rahul Sinha has been nominated from West Bengal.

AITC, BJD Also Name Candidates

Earlier, the All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) had announced four candidates for the Rajya Sabha polls - Babul Supriyo, Rajeev Kumar, Menaka Guruswamy and Koel Mallick. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has also named two candidates. Party president and Leader of Opposition in the Odisha Assembly, Naveen Patnaik, announced Dr Santrupt Misra and Dr Datteswar Hota for the upcoming elections.

Election Schedule Finalised

The Election Commission has scheduled polling for March 16, with counting to take place the same day at 5 pm. The entire election process will conclude by March 20.

The biennial elections will fill 37 seats across 10 states - Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana - where members' terms are set to expire in April 2026. The notification was issued on February 26, commencing the election process, while the last date for nominations is March 5, scrutiny on March 6, and withdrawal by March 9.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)